Beyoncé has spoken out about the killing of George Floyd in a new video posted to her Instagram account, yesterday.
"We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight," the Lemonade singer says in the video.
Floyd, an African-American man, was arrested by Minneapolis police on Monday, May 25th, for reportedly using a counterfeit $20 note in a store. While being detained, officer Derek Chauvin - a 19 year veteran of the force - knelt on his neck for eight minutes, which resulted in him losing consciousness, and later passing away.
"We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, black, brown or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now," she continues.
"No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family and humanity. He is our family because he is a fellow American. There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved."
The 38-year-old proceeded to urge her 147 million followers to sign petitions calling for more charges to be brought to the officers responsible for Floyd's death - directing them to her website.
Protests have since broken out across the country, with people demanding that all four officers involved be brought to justice.
On Friday it was revealed that Chauvin had been detained and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
More on Chauvin's arrest below:He was arrested by the state’s bureau of criminal apprehension.
Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman revealed in a statement: "We are in the process of continuing to review the evidence. There may be additional charges later."
Floyd's family has since released a statement calling Chauvin's arrest a "welcome but overdue step on the road to justice” and added that members “expected a first-degree murder charge" - which they still demand.
"The pain that the black community feels over this murder and what it reflects about the treatment of black people in America is raw and spilling out on to streets across [the country]," the statement added.
The statement concluded by saying:
"Today, George Floyd's family is having to explain to his children why their father was executed by police on video. It's essential that the City closely examines and changes its policing policies and training procedures to correct for the lack of proper field supervision; the use of appropriate, non-lethal restraint techniques; the ability to recognize medical signs associated with the restriction of airflow, and the legal duty to seek emergency medical care and stop a civil rights violation."
Under Minnesota law, a first-degree murder charge would require prosecutors to prove Chauvin’s actions were willful and premeditated.
In footage of the arrest, George Floyd can be heard pleading for help - repeatedly telling officers that he couldn't breathe. He then became unresponsive during the arrest and was later pronounced dead.
Watch a news report on protests in Minneapolis below, where a white CNN journalist describes how differently he was treated by police at the demonstration: